Category Archives: Team

The CANNOTs of Leadership

06 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Balance, Choice, Clarity, Culture, Decisions, Humility, Ideals, Inspiration, Integrity, Leader, Leadership, Momentum, Opportunity, Passion, Perseverance, Power, Purpose, Servant, Team, Trust, Understanding, Unity

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“Leadership is an aspect of power, but it is also a separate and vital process in itself.” – James MacGregor Burns

Society has done a terrific job and an injustice of conditioning the minds of many leaders to be shallow and superficial. It distorts our thinking and our ability to make decisions. In some sense, it becomes a drug that is killing the future of what great, quality leadership should be.

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Photo Credit: gettingsmart.com

Unless there is a radical change in our thought process of the way we view leadership, to be for others and not ourselves, leadership will simply fade away.

Here are a few thoughts that we CANNOT allow ourselves to do…

  • We cannot simply flow with the societal trends of leadership.
  • We cannot elevate our leadership and at the same time not hold to the foundational truths of leadership.
  • We cannot promote our leadership by not living out what we say our leadership is.
  • We cannot fall victim not acknowledging that leadership requires humility.
  • We cannot fail to realize that leadership requires enthusiasm.
  • We cannot abandon our desire to want right leadership.

Today’s leadership models promote so much focus on self that we lose sight of serving others. It is self-absorbing. To make matters worse, we buy into it. We accept it as the norm. We allow it to become part of our inner being… ME FIRST!

Our defense against leadership, that is worldly and weakens right influence, relies on distrusting our ego to the point that we must separate the error it causes in our thinking.

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

“Relationshipablitiness”

23 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Authentic, Communication, Culture, Ideals, Inspiration, Leader, Leadership, Relationships, Servant, Team, Trust, Unity

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“When leadership is a relationship founded on trust and confidence, people take risks, make changes, keep organizations and movements alive.” – James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

When there are people around, to lead, I figure you just might have to have a relationship with them. Can you lead if relationships are absent? I suppose you can but…

I believe the one ingredient leadership must have, is “relationshipabilitness” (I just made that word up). Leadership relationships create an atmosphere across many different ideas, concepts, interests, etc. What leaders need and should understand is that relationships must be built and YOU, as the leader, must be the builder. If you cannot be that builder, what type of structure will your leadership be? Now, some leaders just choose not to build. This is very sad. Often, you might find that leader who states, “I am in charge and what I say goes, blah blah blah.” What you have here is a leadership facade that looks good on the outside, but on the inside, it is in shambles. No thank you.

When your leadership has a relationship with people, it listens to understand them. It considers and acknowledges their thoughts and ideas. Leaders must see that people have value. What happens is people begin to see that you are committed to them and just not yourself. Leading for yourself is easy. It is all about you. When we lead for others, we devalue ourselves. Notice the “for” in each of the two previous statements. Who is your leadership “for?” At the end of it all, that has to be the question asked and answered.

Do you honestly want to connect with your leadership? Then build relationships beyond yourself. Building relationships has to be one of the most effective leadership traits of a quality leader. Be a leader who is known for having “relationshipabilitiness.”

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP!

©2018 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page

“Entitled” Leadership?

29 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in Actions, Attitude, Clarity, Deciding, Leader, Leadership, Team

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“Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.” – Robin S. Sharma

 

I need a title!

Why?

It makes me look better.

Does it or will it make you lead better?

I don’t know, but it makes me look better!

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Let’s start with this fact… and it is a fact: A title does not make you a leader. But oh, how many people live in that fictitious world.

So… Some thoughts about leaders being “entitled”…

Titles are like business cards. Anyone can get one… Make one up and hit print.

Leadership is a melting pot of complex, different attributes. A good leader will rally those around for the good of the group and have their support. But… a true leader will be able to step in when difficult situations occur and make the hard decisions. Given almost any situation, a leader will emerge from within a group. Natural leadership ability will always rise.  The need to self-appoint will not be necessary.

It would be great if titles meant effective leadership ability. But that is not the case. Many leaders with titles cannot or chose not to lead. Either case, sooner or later, failure will happen. When it does, the lack of leadership will show.

Leaders who are “entitled” are blind and have limits to their leadership. Their ego and self-centeredness become known for what they are. “Entitled” leaders take credit for others work, give orders for something they do not want to do, or place blame on others for their own mistakes and failures.

But why are these people in positions to lead? Who knows… the problem is that they are there. It does not take us long to figure out that “entitled” leaders surround us every day. What is worse, they have the power to make decisions that affect a lot of different areas.

But where does a title come in? It doesn’t. Please quit thinking it does.

Some of the best leaders we know do one thing well, they lead. Leadership is a verb, not a noun. It is action. It is the form of doing. Those who lead by title only do so because they have a title.

Anyone and everyone has the capability to be a leader. But leadership is not for everyone and that’s OK. A person chooses leadership when they make a decision for the greater good of a cause and stand for it. They lead by example. They do not ask others to do something they are not willing to do themselves.

.…And most of all, leaders act like leaders even when they do not have a title.

 

Remember… #thinkleadership

©2017 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at TheBookChamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page.

“We Walk Together” – Unity Leadership

08 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in Attitude, Culture, Leader, Leadership, Power, Servant, Team, Unity

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“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves.” – Leo Tolstoy

 


 

 

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When you think of unity, what comes to mind? I would assume most of you would say something like “coming together as one” but is it that easy and simple? How many times do you hear of leadership as it relates to unity? Do you believe that leaders actually want unity? This will usually depend on if the leader is servant-minded or self-serving minded. I guess if we knew these answers, we would all have unity in our leadership.

Leadership unity requires an investment in others. The hard part is getting others to invest in you. This is true… people either agree or not agree with your leadership direction. The problem lies with those who may agree and support your leadership but not invested. Because someone supports your leadership does not equate with unity with your leadership. They follow you on the surface, go through the motions to make sure all is well and the “apple cart” does not tip over.

If people invest in you, then your leadership has power. This is a good thing. Why? Because they are “with” you. The “with” means they want what you want. They commit to your vision. They have your back. They have the backs of others. Most of all, their investment in you shows in public and private. No one likes the “two-face” leader or follower.

So… why is there not more unity with leadership? Do you realize how many different people have different agendas? There is so much negative out there and that negative becomes contagious. I am sure we can provide an infinite list of reasons… Conspiracy theory or not, there are actually people who want to see your success not happen.

Leadership unity provides a path for success. Our job as leaders is to bring people together. Together for a common cause, for the good of all. As a leader, you either help or hinder the cause for unity. Unity is essential for leadership. When unity happens, “we walk together” becomes a reality. Mindsets change, personal agendas are set aside and total contribution of all exists.

As we move forward with our leadership, let’s put a focus on unity and see what the outcome will be. I would dare say the results will be positive and you will find that “we walk together.”

Remember… THINK LEADERSHIP

©2017 J Clay Norton

Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/thebookchamber

Subscribe via email to my blog at the top of the page.